| Title | : | The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 059344809X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780593448090 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | Published June 18, 2024 |
“As I sat in the front row that day, I was 80 percent faking it with a 100-percent-real Gucci bag.” Samhita Mukhopadhyay had finally made it: she had her dream job, dream clothes—dream life. But time and time again, she found herself sacrificing time with family and friends, paying too much for lattes, and limping home after working twelve hours a day. Success didn’t come without costs, right? Or so she kept telling herself. And Mukhopadhyay wasn’t alone: Far too many of us are taught that we need to work ourselves to the bone to live a good life. That we just need to climb up the corporate ladder, to “lean in” and “hustle,” to enact change. But as Mukhopadhyay shows, these definitions of success are myths—and they are seductive ones.
Mukhopadhyay traces the origins of these myths, taking us from the sixties to the present. She forms a critical overview of workplace feminism, looking at stories from her own professional career, analysis from activists and experts, and of course, experiences of workers at different levels. As more individuals continue to question whether their professional ambitions can lead to happiness and fulfillment in the first place, Mukhopadhyay asks, What would it mean to have a liberated workplace? Mukhopadhyay emerges with a vision for a workplace culture that pays fairly, recognizes our values, and gives people access to the resources they need.
A call to action to redefine and reimagine work as we know it, The Myth of Making It is a field guide and manifesto for all of us who are tired, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of hustle culture.
The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning Reviews
-
Blurb to come! Really sitting with some feelings this brought up for me.
-
My freshly graduated, newly corporate America-indoctrinated self was missing a manager or mentor like Samhita Mukhopadhyay. Instead, during my first year out of college, I was immersed in a hustle-only impression of the rest of my life. As a result, I read books like "How Women Rise" by Marshall Goldsmith and Sally Helgesen.
The former executive editor of Teen Vogue offers readers a refreshing and holistic look at life at the top. It is tiring, doesn't pay millions, requires financing, and demands stepping away—an uncommonly paraded narrative.
My appreciation for Mukhopadhyay’s approach to her writing is threefold:
1. She traces the origins of misleading marketing phrases like “having it all,” “leaning in,” and "girlboss" with real proof points.
2. She is unabashedly candid with readers by disclosing her salary while working at Teen Vogue, offering a departure from the often glossy and unrealistic portrayals of financial success.
3. She does not aim to provide tips or tricks but rather thoughtfully points out which elements of corporate inclusion and health are simply not working.
I am guilty of getting lost in the climb, often running, not walking, to the next big thing. Living in a highly comparative city like New York doesn’t ease these thoughts. I am grateful for this book, which shares a tasteful and realistic approach to thinking about modern career paths. It’s about recognizing that as we shape language around our jobs, we must acknowledge where corporate feminism language has failed us and refuse to bind ourselves to the same rhetoric or standards many of us diligently pursued. -
Thank you so much, NetGalley, and the Random House Publishing Group team for an opportunity to receive an electronic ARC of this book! I appreciate it so much 💛🥹 All opinions are my own in this review.
In The Myth of Making It: A Workplace Reckoning, the author calls from her personal experiences climbing the corporate ladder and shares an overview of the corporate American work experience that women and more specifically women of color face. She dives into the history of workplace feminist movements by pulling from articles and books and proves that her experiences are not singular and that women have been facing some issues for quite some time now. She additionally talks about the origins of the famous phrases we've all heard, "having it all," "leaning in," and "girlboss.""
Here's my review ~
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I really needed to read this! This is for the corporate baddies!!! ✨️💻
I felt so validated while reading this and saddened that so many of us face similar issues when we're trying to make it in corporate America. This was an educational read for me, and I loved it! I highly recommend for any folks, especially women of color, who want to make an impact as an amazing leader in corporate America.
After finishing this book, I feel inspired to rethink what I am striving to do with my life and to be a compassionate leader to help cultivate healthier workplace environments.
Samhita shares the ups and downs she encountered as a leader and is very vulnerable when sharing her feelings during the dips. I'm so thankful Samhita chose to share her story and hope folks who pick up this book feel inspired to make a change! Together, we can change the world for the better 🫶🏽💛 -
I picked this up on a whim at the library, and it was ok. Samhita's accessible and fun style made it a fast and fun read.
The content itself was a bit of a miss for me. I'm not really sure what the intent or overall message of this book even is...capitalism is terrible (esp. for women > the focus of this book), but if we "bring love to work" and "commit to loving others" then maybe it might not be that bad actually? The title encourages us to question whether making it is even possible, but the book itself is peppered with charming tactics to fit into capitalist landscapes, not reject them...from the radical power of taking naps to encouraging middle managers to have two way conversations with their employees. Nice.
Mukhodpadhyay makes passing efforts to include readers who occupy differing positions in America's class structure, but to me personally this entire thing read as helping a (higher paid) class of professional women feel less shitty about participating in capitalism. There's a lot of angsty hand wringing about how hard it is to be a manager being stuck between the rock of capitalism and the hard place of having to lay off pregnant people. If doing that makes you feel bad though, don't worry! Take a promotion and lead a team, just keep your mind "focused on these theoretical concerns." This is suitably vague advice for a similarly dubious goal the book has: creating a vision for a "liberated" workplace. I don't think it's controversial to ask how exactly we have a liberated workplace in an economic system that is predicated upon inequality...? I'm sure many of the people that Mukhodpadhyay quotes extensively throughout this book would object to her solutions for any segment of society, especially women.
It's strange to have such lukewarm perspectives on the workplace while constantly quoting feminist radicals...including the Combahee River Collective, which made the complete destruction of capitalism one of its main professed goals. Here, however, Mukhodpadhyay defangs a lot of these people's actual intellectual teeth, and extrapolates their ideas out into how women can adapt to a workspace instead of actually deconstructing it. And no, I'm not saying everyone needs to go Stalin on their workplace, but I do think it's disingenuous to use anti-capitalist feminist writing as infrastructure to support your own ideas that have a very different sort of intention.
The overall message seems to be: "This shit sucks, but we're not going to change it, so let's just make some changes so it doesn't suck quite as much!" There are some further vague calls for embracing the power of the collective so...unionize I guess?
TMOMT has some strong sections, specifically around the history of workplace feminism and speaking powerfully to the insurmountable difficulties women face in the workplace, but it was too much of a mixed bag with an unclear message for me personally. To be fair I'm not a woman, so, take my POV with a grain of salt. -
Synopsis: Former Teen Vogue Executive Editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay challenges the idea of “hustle culture” — and explains the history of the phrase — and questions what it really means to “have it all.” She also discusses her personal experiences with professional successes and failures, and what she’s learned along the way. “The Myth of Making It” also includes a lot of information about the effect of the pandemic on working women as well as current events and trends such as trad wives.
What I liked: Mukhopadhyay weaves in personal experiences with expert statistics and history, which breaks up the book from making it feel like a college textbook. This is the type of book that can be read annually as a refresher — and motivation.
What I disliked: Nothing to note!
This book is for you if… you are a working woman or manage a working woman; experience comparison in the workplace and burnout; struggle with mental health and self-care; are interested in the history and statistics of women in the workplace.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of #TheMythOfMakingIt. -
I won and advance reader paperback copy of the book from a goodreads giveaway.
My favorite parts of the book to read where were Samhita talks about herself and her career. He struggles in school and places she has worked.
And one thing she talks about is that I had never thought much about is when she talks about that white women started working out of the home is that other women had to do the jobs that the no longer could do as much of like cleaning and childcare.
And another interesting thing I learned is that the idea of women staying at home and taking care of the house and family is recent. In medieval times women worked outside the home. I had thought the idea of women and staying home had been that way forever. I was wrong.
I thought The myth of making it was Ok. Some of it was interesting to me a lot of it was not. However I did learn things I did not know before reading it. -
I started out loving this book but towards the end I felt deflated. I think I’ve aged out of having certain kinds of hope for myself because I don’t feel uplifted when I read amazing book like this. I feel defeated. However I do support other people’s hope and will hand sell the crap out of this beautifully written book because it’s definitely a message I want to spread and I know that it will find its people and create a wave of influence.
-
its more like a 4.5. really enjoyed the research weaved into the personal experience. it opens up a lot of questions on how we relate to work but leaves the reader with a tangible way to assess that for themselves and a worthy call to action.
would reccomend to any person questioning labor and how they relate to it. -
Quote:
"Not that anyone likes them much, but I really hate layoffs. They often feel unnecessary - or at least based on faulty strategy - and make clear a company's inability to prioritize their most important resource: people." -
Those who read within this genre won’t find a lot of new information here, although it’s interesting to hear from a new voice.
